Spiders and Erectile Dysfunction

Spiders and Erectile Dysfunction

Posted: August 20, 2015

If you experience an erection lasting longer than four hours please contact your doctor....cause you might have been bitten by one of the most venomous spiders on the planet.

I’m Anna Rothschild, and this is Gross Science.

This is Phoneutria, more commonly known as the Brazilian wandering spider. Rather than spinning a web or building a nest, this highly aggressive arachnid constantly roams around in search of food. It’s found in parts of Central and South America, and the spider’s wandering often takes it right into people’s homes, where it finds a dark place to rest.

Phoneutria literally translates to “murderess” in ancient Greek. And for good reason. It’s one of the most venomous spiders on the planet. In fact, its venom was 18 times more potent than that of the Black Widow when it was tested in mice.

The venom is made up of a cocktail of toxins that disrupt the electrical signals your cells use to function. If you don’t have any anti-venom handy, Phoneutria’s bite can cause changes in heartbeat and blood pressure along with hypothermia, vertigo, blurred vision and convulsions. Most people don’t die because the dose of venom is too small. But there is one other horrifying side effect of note: intense and painful erections lasting up to five hours!

This phenomenon, known as “priapism” has scientists looking to use the spider venom to help men with erectile dysfunction. Current drugs on the market work by inhibiting signals that tell an erection to stop. But Brazilian researchers, in collaboration with The Medical College of Georgia, were able to isolate a compound from the venom that sets off a chemical chain reaction in the brain, actually stimulating arousal, instead.

Now, thinking of spider venom as medicine might sound strange, but venoms have a lot going for them when it comes to medical applications. They target very specific molecules, just like many modern drugs do. In fact, venoms from all these animals are either used or being researched as treatments for cancer, diabetes, heart disease, MS, pancreatitis, arthritis, and much more.

So if you get bitten by a spider on an amazon safari, thank her for her venom…and then get yourself to the nearest hospital.

Ew.

PRODUCTION CREDITS:

Host, Animator, Editor

Anna Rothschild

Writer, DP, Sound

Sam Stulin

Many thanks to Dr. Kenia Pedrosa Nunes.

Time For Suspense

Music Provided by APM

IMAGES AND VIDEO

Phoneutria Aggression

Courtesy Kevin Judge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H4VolRwMAw

Additional Video of Phoneutria

Courtesy Rob Nelson

One day (viagra tablet)

Flickr/Felix E. Guerrero

Aurelia aurita 1

Wikimedia Commons/ Hans Hillewaert

Crotalus horridus (1)

Wikimedia Commons/ Tad Arensmeier

Eastern Green Mamba 02

Wikimedia Commons/ Danleo~commonswiki

Gila Monster head

Wikimedia Commons/ Jeff Servoss

Desmodus rotundus feeding

Wikimedia Commons/ Sandstein

Leiurus quinquestriatus

Flickr/Matt Reinbold

Textile cone

Wikimedia Commons/Richard Ling

Sun Anemone

Flickr/Roban Kramer

Bee-apis

Wikimedia Commons/ Maciej A. Czyzewski

Brachypelma smithi 2009 G03

Wikimedia Commons/ George Chernilevsky

SFX

Cockroaches

Freesound/StateAardvark
(used with permission from author)

Squeak Pack/squeak_10

Freesound/Corsica_S

Scratch speed

Freesound/raccoonanimator

Dun dun dun

Freesound/Simon Lacelle

Produced by WGBH for PBS Digital Studios

IMAGE

(main image: Wandering Spider)

Courtesy Rob Nelson

Want more info?

Untamed Science video on bugs living homes in the Peruvian Amazon:
http://bit.ly/1LhdqSb

Science With Tom's creepy crawly science rap:
http://bit.ly/1Lhdq4p

Research into using venom to treat erectile dysfunction:
http://bit.ly/1Lhd263

More on venom as medicine, from National Geographic:
http://bit.ly/1LhdpgR